Description of the Prior Art
The conventional method of producing methyl alcohol is to pass synthesis gas containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen over a catalyst at high temperatures and pressures. The temperature of the reaction is maintained at about 300.degree. C. Because of the unfavorable equilibrium, the reaction must be carried out at high pressures, from about 3,000 to 5,000 psi. Even under these conditions only a fraction of the synthesis gas is converted to methanol in each pass and therefore it must be recycled to the reactor after condensing the methyl alcohol which is formed.
There are two principal sources of synthesis gas. Coal may be reacted with steam at elevated temperatures to produce a gas containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen. After purification and fortification with additional hydrogen, the gas is suitable for methanol synthesis. Alternatively, synthesis gas can be produced from methane by partial oxidation or by the reaction with carbon dioxide.
In order to overcome the limitations of existing methods of producing methyl alcohol, proposals have been made to convert methane directly to methyl alcohol via partial oxidation. On paper this approach would appear to be extremely attractive. Only one carbon-hydrogen bond of the methane molecule would be broken in this reaction, thus promising a greatly simplified procedure. Unfortunately, all attempts at the direct synthesis of methyl alcohol from methane have failed. The right catalyst or combination of conditions has yet to be discovered.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a process for the production of methyl alcohol from methane that overcomes the disadvantages of the conventional methods. Another object is to produce methyl alcohol in high yields from methane. Still a further object is to avoid the necessity of operating a process at high pressure which requires specialized and expensive apparatus.